1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method for selecting an option from a plurality of options in a system comprising a display screen and an input device with a plurality of hard keys, the method comprising a display step displaying on the display screen a plurality of soft keys each corresponding with a respective one of the options, the soft keys being displayed in an overall arrangement, a selection step selecting a particular hard key for selecting the soft key that relates with the selected hard key on the basis of correspondence between the soft key in the overall arrangement and the hard key on the input device, and an activation step activating the option corresponding with the thus selected soft key.
The invention further relates to an apparatus for selecting an option from a plurality of options, the apparatus comprising an input device with a plurality of hard keys, a display unit for displaying on a display screen a plurality of soft keys each corresponding with a respective one of the options, the soft keys being displayed in an overall arrangement, a selection unit for upon detection of selection of a particular hard key selecting the soft key that relates with the selected hard key on the basis of correspondence between the soft key in the overall arrangement and the hard key on the input device, and an activation unit for activating the option corresponding with the thus selected soft key.
2. Description of Related Art
A method and an apparatus as described above is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,157,496. The known apparatus is employed in a television receiver of which the channel to be viewed can be selected by means of a remote controller as input device. In a channel allocation operation, it is determined which channels can be currently received by the television receiver. The channel numbers of these channels are displayed on the screen in a display matrix of 3 rows and 4 columns. The remote controller has 12 keys arranged in a similar key matrix of 3 rows and 4 columns. Pressing a certain key in the key matrix results in the selection of the channel displayed at the corresponding position in the display matrix. In the known apparatus, each option that can be selected, in this case each channel, has its own corresponding key on the input device. Therefore, a large number of options from which an option can be selected requires an equally large number of keys on the input device.
It is an object of the invention to provide a method of the kind set forth in which the input device has a comparatively smaller number of keys than in the known method. This object is achieved according to the invention in a method which is characterised in that the overall arrangement comprises a plurality of groups each being relatable to the input device, that the method comprises a pre-selection step selecting a particular group thus relating the selected group to the input device, and that in the selection step selecting the particular hard key results in selecting the soft key that relates with the selected hard key on the basis of correspondence between the soft key in the selected group and the hard key on the input device. In the pre-selection step, a subset of the total number of selectable options is selected and it is from this subset that subsequently an option can be selected for activation by the system. Therefore, it suffices that the number of hard keys on the input device is equal to the number of options in this subset and it is not necessary that the number of hard keys is equal to the total number of options. The method according to the invention provides a flexible mechanism for selecting an option from a relatively large number of options in a system by means of an input device with a relatively small, fixed number of hard keys. The options are displayed as a number of groups, whereby each group can be related to input device. The groups are displayed in such a way that the user sees all soft keys, thus giving in one glance an overview of all options available. In the pre-selection step, the user first selects the group of options from which an option is to be selected. This group is then related to the input device, whereby each soft key, which corresponds with an option, is assigned to a corresponding hard key on the input device. A subsequent selection of a hard key results in selection and activation of the corresponding option.
In an embodiment of the method according to the invention, giving the elementary soft layout a similar form as the hard layout of the keys on the input device is an easy mechanism to express the relationship between the options in a group and the input device. The similarity of forms provides a simple indication for the user that such a group can be related to the input device.
In an further embodiment of the method according to the invention, the similarity between the position of the soft key in the group and the position of the hard key on the input device provides a simple indication for the user that the particular soft key can be selected by selecting the corresponding hard key. This allows the user to keep looking at the display screen, on which the soft keys are displayed, while making a selection among the hard keys of the input device. The correspondence between the position of the soft key in the group and the hard key on the input device insure that there is no need to look away from the display screen to the input device in order to make a selection.
In a further embodiment of the method according to the invention a direct key provides a quick access to the corresponding option, since it is not necessary to make a pre-selection of a group of options. This feature can advantageously be used for options that are present in every mode of the system and for options that must allow quick access.
In a further embodiment of the method according to the invention, the display of and subsequent selection from is from a set of options that is assembled in dependence on the current state of the system. In this way, the user is given a choice from options that are specifically relevant for the current context of the user""s operation of the system.
It is a further object of the invention to provide an apparatus of the kind set forth in which the input device has a comparatively smaller number of keys than in the known apparatus. This object is achieved according to the invention in an apparatus which is characterised in that the display unit is arranged to display the overall arrangement as comprising a plurality of groups each being relatable to the input device, that the apparatus comprises a pre-selection unit for selecting a particular group thus relating the selected group to the input device, and that the selection unit is arranged for upon detection of selection of the particular hard key selecting the soft key that relates with the selected hard key on the basis of correspondence between the soft key in the selected group and the hard key on the input device. Because the pre-selection unit allows the user to make a selection of a group among the groups of displayed soft keys, the actual selection of a soft key for activation of the desired option is to be made from such a group. Therefore it suffices that the input device has a hard key for each of the soft key of the group and it is no longer necessary for the input device to have a hard key for each of the displayed options. The apparatus according to the invention still provides the user with full access to all of the displayed options with a smaller number of hard keys. The actual display of the selectable options and the mapping of the soft keys to the hard keys of the input device may be realised in software. This gives a large flexibility in that a given input device can be used in conjunction with different soft keys and corresponding functions.